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14. November 2016 marks World Diabetes Day. This years theme -Eyes on Diabetes- is a reminder, that diabetes is among the leading causes of blindness and visual impairment.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar), which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. The most common is type 2 diabetes, usually in adults, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't make enough insulin. In the past three decades the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically in countries of all income levels. Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself. For people living with diabetes, access to affordable treatment, including insulin, is critical to their survival. There is a globally agreed target to halt the rise in diabetes and obesity by 2025.

Pilots and Diabetes

Like other professionals working in the personal transportation business, airline pilots with diabetes have to comply with higher and more stringent treatment quality requirements than normal diabetes patients. Because of their particularly high responsibility for passenger safety, their diabetes has to be excellently controlled, but their treatment cannot include drugs, which induce a risk for hypoglycemia during a flight with the plane.

WORLD DIABETES DAY HIGHLIGHTS URGENT NEED FOR EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT

(Brussels, 14 November 2016) - The number of people with diabetes is increasing rapidly across the globe. Nearly one in two (46%) of the 415 million adults living with diabetes are unaware that they have the condition.1 Most of these cases are type 2 diabetes. On the occasion of World Diabetes Day on 14 November, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is highlighting the urgent need to screen, diagnose and provide appropriate treatment to people with diabetes. The earlier a person is diagnosed, the earlier interventions can be initiated that provide durable effects on the harmful and costly complications of diabetes. “Eyes on Diabetes” is the theme of World Diabetes Day. It is a call for action to screen people at risk of type 2 diabetes, and screen people living with diabetes for complications.

Accessible tools exist to help identify people with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes and those at risk of developing it in the future. As there are known risk factors for type 2 diabetes such as overweight, family history and sedentary lifestyle, a number of risk assessment scores have been developed in order to help identify those at high risk. Early lifestyle intervention can protect their future health and reduce health costs required to treat complications. That is why IDF is encouraging the global community to screen for type 2 diabetes this World Diabetes Day.2 A simple risk assessment form is accessible on the World Diabetes Day website.3

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention and the Emirates Diabetes Society in partnership with AstraZeneca, reveal diabetes education & support programme aimed at diabetic patients under -Circle of Care-

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention in partnership with the Emirates Diabetes Society, and within the framework of the new MoU signed by the Ministry with AstraZeneca Gulf, has launched Circle of Care, an education and support programme aimed to improve the well-being of people in the UAE living with or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The programme seeks to address the findings from a recent local diabetes report, undertaken by Project HOPE, a global health education and humanitarian assistance organization, beginning with a focus on Emirati diabetic patients.